Transfer Pumps

[ruskii]

Hi,

I've never really used any kind of pumps to transfer wort or cold beer around but decided to improve my brewing.

I am looking for two types of pumps:
1. I need a Hot Wort Transfer pump. I would assume that stainless steel is probably the best. Also after doing some reading it looks a diaphragm pump is important to have so it will not introduce any oxygen. I also dont want to spend a fortune on this pump. So it doesnt have to be fast. I keep seeing that everyone is referring to March 809 pump but some people complained about its temperature rating.

2. Second pump would be a cold transfer pump. I guess the only requirement here is it should be food grade and no oxygen.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thank you guys.

 

[mikelikesit2000]

I just received 2 chugger SS pumps for hot transfers. Great customer service.

 

[Jamming]

I bought a magnetic march pump with a bronze housing and it nice quality but was a pain to get primed , you have to use 1/2 Id hose and make sure it's mounted so the air burps out of the pump on the pickup side or it won't prime on its own, rated for 250f though, nice thing about a magnetic pump is you can regulate flow without overheating the motor, works well for fly sparging.

 

[ruskii]

Thanks Mike.
It looks just like what I need for the hot transfer pump.

What about cold pump? I would think that there are cheaper ones for cold transfers.

 

[shelly_belly]

Why not use the same pump?

 

[SankePankey]

Hi,

I've never really used any kind of pumps to transfer wort or cold beer around but decided to improve my brewing.

I am looking for two types of pumps:
1. I need a Hot Wort Transfer pump. I would assume that stainless steel is probably the best. Also after doing some reading it looks a diaphragm pump is important to have so it will not introduce any oxygen. I also dont want to spend a fortune on this pump. So it doesnt have to be fast. I keep seeing that everyone is referring to March 809 pump but some people complained about its temperature rating.

2. Second pump would be a cold transfer pump. I guess the only requirement here is it should be food grade and no oxygen.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thank you guys.

1) I don't think your average diaphragm pump is rated for boiling temperatures. You want a magnetic drive pump like the 809. Besides diaphragm pumps, those are the 'other' kind of pump who's wetted parts are separate from the drive mechanism (hence the magnetic drive). This is really the only recommendable wort pump style, IMO. (Edit: Peristaltic pumps also separate wetted and mechanic parts. I use them too but I believe they are better for slower flow. They are my sparge pumps).

Stainless is not necessarily the best re: wort pumps but stainless is always better right? The black plastic is rated to 250*+ and it isn't the thing that is questionably food grade, it's the methods and greases that are used during manufacturing and assembly....let alone actually getting FDA approval for calling them food grade. The thing that isn't great about the plastic is that if you use stainless fittings on the threads, you can damage them if you're not careful, which means you have to replace the head. I can tell you that I'd much rather have the black plastic head than a bronze head, but that's just me...

2) I'm not sure what cold transferring you are doing, so hard to say. For anything other than wort transfer, sump pumps are hard to beat. I even use them for mash recirculation.

Food grade and no oxygen = there's a use for your diaphragm pump. Used widely in the wine industry where you don't do boiling temps, but no ox and food grade are a must. I'm not sure why you'd want to be using a pump to transfer finished beer when CO2 works better. If you're not into kegging, well, you're two pumps are going to cost a bit of money... especially the diaphragm pump. Might want to get into kegging and moving beer with gas.

 

[Rusty_Toolz]

I bought a Chugger pump with the stainless pump head and it works great. It was $139.00 plus shipping, and although March pumps seem to be the standard within the HBT community, these Chugger pumps are well made, function properly, and are priced quite fairly. I have both now, and can say that I feel like I overpaid for my March pump.

 

[ruskii]

I was thinking about two pumps because they are going to be stationary and one would transfer wort to fermenter through some sort of chiller and the second one would transfer wort from mash tun to the boiling kettle. I guess I was thinking about transfering fermented beer out of fermenter to kegs (ie cold transfer pump) but maybe I can reuse somehow.

Thank you all for all of the comments. I appreciate it.